Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,79
her crown and demand her demons fight.
That just left the Court of Sorrow and the Court of Misery, both run by kings. And none of them got along, so it should be interesting, when faced with war, who sided with who.
Ashor reached for my hand. I went willingly, spreading out alongside him on the couch as he talked. “King Trist is a reasonable demon. But I can’t say for certain that he will align with Verena and stand against my mother. King Angor is an arrogant bastard. His court is iron strong with some of the most powerful demons in existence. He could make or break this war.”
“What do we have to do to get him on our side?” I asked.
Deep consideration wrinkled his forehead. “I don’t know. Not yet. He would be petty and vain enough to fight the Court of Darkness on his own. Join neither side. The only side he cares about is his own and what he can get out of it. Make no mistake about it, King Angor would double-cross us in a heartbeat. He is untrustworthy.”
Truly, were any of them trustworthy? Sure, one queen or king might be more dependable than the other, but none of them were honorable. “If your plan works, whatever insane thing you’ve schemed, what then? Does it stop here?”
He shook his head. “No. If anything, it will only get more perilous, which is why you never should have come back.”
“Are you saying that you regret what happened between us?”
His eyes burned as he stared into mine. “Never.”
I curled my fingers into his shirt, half afraid he would disappear in front of my eyes. “Promise me you won’t leave.” Careful, Lexi. Or you will fall in love with this prince. The demon inside of me brushed against my heart as if to say, “open up.”
Ashor’s teeth grazed over my earlobe, and matters of the heart were overshadowed by the pleasure of the flesh. “Perhaps you should shackle me to the bed,” he suggested with menacing lewdness.
He was joking, but it struck a chord of anger within me. I lifted my head, looking down into his chiseled face cut from dark magic. “You will never be my prisoner,” I said, my voice serious.
“Aren’t I already?” Although his voice was light and playful, I felt the respect through our bond. “I was yours from the moment I saw you in the woods, fierce and determined. I knew you were mine.”
We were prisoners to each other, to the bonds that tied us eternally together in any world. A small part of me relished in our rare link. “It is both a curse and a blessing to be tied to you.”
He laughed. “Perhaps I could show you more ways this bond we share can be transcending.” His lips brushed over the side of my neck as his hands moved from my hips to my lower back.
“Ashor,” I sighed, thinking everything between us felt so rushed, yet when we were together, I wondered how I lived without him. It was his damn lips that scattered my ability to think rationally. Or at all. “You distracting me won’t change my mind,” I somehow managed to say.
His lips hovered just over my own. “The crowolves, the sentries, and the skinwalker were sent as a warning. Next time, my mother will send someone who will do far worse.” The trepidation flowing inside him wasn’t for himself. He was worried about me—about what his mother would do to me. “Or she will come herself.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I reinforced, in case he got any ideas since the last time I informed him of my decision to stand beside him and fight. He was going to have to accept my choice, even if I had to pound it into that thick skull of his.
The prince pinched the bridge of his nose. “So you’ve made crystal clear. But I need you to understand the risk you are taking, the danger you will be in. This time, I might not be able to save you or return you to your world. Are you prepared for that?”
“You forget, my best friend is a queen of her own domain.” Always have a backup plan. Chase taught me that.
“A sector she has abandoned. You will not find any sanctuary at the Court of Inferno.”
“Perhaps not,” I agreed. “But as a queen, she has the right to come and go from the underworld.”
He reached down to the foot of the couch, grabbing a knitted blanket and